Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. reduced its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 556 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after buying an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after purchasing an additional 636,882 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after purchasing an additional 347,778 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.5 %

KMB stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $47.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.